A majority of investment managers and pension plan sponsors wants US regulators to provide more guidelines on the disclosure of equity commissions, according to a new study.

The UK introduced unbundling last July, which forced buyside groups to separate the costs of trading and research. At the same time, the US Securities and Exchange Commission made proposals that are based on the UK model but has not indicated how it will develop them.

A new study by consultancy Greenwich Associates and Capital Institutional Services, an agency broker, found that more than 60% of investment managers and more than two third of pension plans favored regulatory intervention. Greenwich interviewed 43 institutional investment managers and 36 plan sponsors between February and April 2007.

Last week Christopher Cox, chairman of the SEC, wrote to members of Congress to consider banning soft commissions in which fund managers pay brokers higher commissions in return for research and other services.

Paul Schott Stevens, president of the Investment Company Institute, a US association, said "We agree with chairman Cox that the time is ripe for Congress to review the issue of soft dollars and the appropriateness of relevant provisions of the federal securities laws, in light of significant changes in securities trading since Congress last did so in the 1990s.”

Kristi Wetherington, chief executive of Capis, said: “The results of the survey are particularly relevant given chairman Cox’s recently expressed concerns regarding the use of client commissions to pay for research. In fact, it is my belief that the best way to preserve the value of the practice, while addressing the issues raised by the chairman, is for the SEC to issue additional guidance on the topic of disclosure.”